With tropical storm Edouard running up the coast of Texas, coastal residents should check up on their insurance policies.

After Katrina, thousands of Gulf Coast residents found that their insurance companies were nothing at all “like a good neighbor.” State Farm, for instance, refused to honor claims for water damage and fought to classify the damage as “flood” instead of “wind” so they could abandon their customers. Worse, State Farm ordered some of their contract engineers to alter their damage reports, so they could avoid paying claims. They would have to pay $30 million more and “re-evaluate” more than 3,000 Hurricane Katrina clams as a result of a settlement with policyholders in April 2007.

State Farm’s actions during Katrina helped it earn the ranking of #4 on the “Worst Insurance companies in America.”

You can read more about State Farm’s anti-customer behavior in a new report on the ten worst insurance companies in the nation.

Based upon exhaustive research, court documents, state insurance records and news accounts, the legal organization, the American Association of Justice compiled the report.

You can read a synopsis of the report here: http://www.justice.org/pressroom/PressRe leases/2008/july09.aspx

Or view a pdf of the full report here: http://www.justice.org/docs/TenWorstInsu ranceCompanies.pdf

The Biloxi (MS) Sun-Herald writes up the "Worst Insurance Companies" report here: http://www.sunherald.com/business/v-prin t/story/675669.html>